My Cyps 2012

[parvi_17]

Hey guys, it's been quite a while since I last posted on these forums - I think over a year now. Life has been busy as of late. I have been reading the forums increasingly over the past couple of months now as I've been gearing up for the Cyp season. I've had to really cut back on my tropical orchid collection, as I no longer have the time or space to maintain a collection the size of the one I had. I plan on building a greenhouse eventually (not here - the cost of heating is too much), but for now my main focus is Cyps.

The Cyps in my garden will not start blooming for another couple of weeks, but I picked up a few new plants today and one of them is this Kathleen Anne Green, which is in bloom right now. I saw some pictures of this plant and thought it looked pretty, so I decided to order one; but I did not expect it to be such an imposing plant in person. The cross is (kentuckiense x henryi). The kentuckiense genes really shine through in terms of flower size and plant stature. The plant stands 23" tall and the flowers are 3" tall and wide. Obviously these flowers are only half the size of a kentuckiense but they are still quite large, and with two of them they make quite an impact. Quite lovely and with excellent form. This plant actually won a ribbon at my society's display table this afternoon, although I obviously did not take credit as I did not grow the plant.





It looks like the first of my garden Cyps to bloom will be Sebastian (which is usually the case). I'll update this thread as stuff opens up.

 

[Kevin]

Nice, and welcome back! Was this from Garden Slippers?

 

[parvi_17]

Nice, and welcome back! Was this from Garden Slippers?

Yes.

 

[Kevin]

How does he get them to bloom so early, and why?

 

[parvi_17]

How does he get them to bloom so early, and why?

My understanding is that some of his stock is grown in beds outside and potted up in spring, and some of it is grown in pots in his greenhouse. The greenhouse grown stuff comes up and blooms early. I don't know for sure why he does this, but I know that he attends a number of shows and events in early spring so it may be that he likes to have some stuff in growth/bloom early as people are generally reluctant to buy them when they are dormant, since they are not used to buying pots of dirt.

 

[Dido]

Nice one I like it and welcome back

 

[tocarmar]

Very Nice!!! I am looking for pollen if you have extra on anything PM me!!

 

[Yoyo_Jo]

I think Shawn also had stuff stored in his garage this year and some of it broke dormancy earlier than usual. It was kind of cool though, because he was able to bring Cyps in bloom to our orchid society booth at the Calgary Hort Society Garden Show in early April.

 

[Kevin]

Do you have any info on where he sources his plants? Does he have any native species? I don't believe there is anyone in Canada that grows native Canadian species from seed.

 

[Dido]

there is growers in Canada who grow from seed, at least I know 2 of them.

 

[parvi_17]

Do you have any info on where he sources his plants? Does he have any native species? I don't believe there is anyone in Canada that grows native Canadian species from seed.

Most of his plants are imported from Europe. I don't know all of his sources, but one of his biggest ones is Michael Weinert. He doesn't grow anything from seed, although he has said that's the direction he's going in.

As far as native species go, he usually has reginae and (sometimes) reginae alba available, but that's about it.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Hey Joe, looking at your Kathleen Anne Green I am moved to change my opinion of this cross - very lovely indeed. IMO C. kentuckiense and C. fasciolatum are both excellent parent plants in Cyp hybridization. Their offspring tend to produce large flowers with clear colors.

As for folks producing Cyps commercially in Canada, like Dido says, at least two have been: Planteck and Frasier's Thimble Farms. These days there doesn't seem to be any big growers of Cyps in the states/Canada period - Vermont Ladyslipper held that honor for a time and they only grew naturally occurring species and hybrids. Production seems to be small scale and by just a handful of folks.

Europe currently is the only place wide scale production is occurring, focusing on Belgium/Holland. Michael Weirnert indeed produces much of the hybrids you see for sale throughout the world. They bear the Frosch copy-write. Dr. Holger Perner is producing quite a few Cyps in China, but given the trade in wild sourced plants from that country, I'm sure he isn't compelled to expand production at this time.

 

[parvi_17]

New for me this year, Memoriam Shawna Austin (hotei-atsumorianum x calceolus). The photo doesn't do the colour justice on this one. The pouch has unreal deep purple-red streaking over an orange-ish background. The tepals are solid burgundy-purple. Hard to describe and simply amazing. In the photo, the orange tones look white on my monitor. I might try to get a better photo later. Nice big flowers as well, with a nice musky fragrance.

 

[SlipperFan]

Very nice!

 

[Yoyo_Jo]

That's beautiful!

 

[biothanasis]

Very nice colours both!

 

[parvi_17]

Thanks for all the kind comments!

Here is another shot of the Shawna Austin that is closer to the true colour:



Ventricosum Pastel, Emil, and Sebastian are opening, and I'll have pictures of them in the next couple of days.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Nice Joe. Do you have any Pixi? They can be incredibly dark too.

One advantage of living in a cold region is that Cyp season is late! I guess that C. reginae must be still flowering in July in your area? Here in southern Japan is over and done by mid May :sob:

 

[parvi_17]

Nice Joe. Do you have any Pixi? They can be incredibly dark too.

One advantage of living in a cold region is that Cyp season is late! I guess that C. reginae must be still flowering in July in your area? Here in southern Japan is over and done by mid May :sob:

I have Pixi but it is not quite big enough to flower yet.

That's right Tom, reginae starts towards the end of June here and flowers into early July. Mine are about 2-3 inches tall right now.

 

[parvi_17]

Some more photos, taken today.

Cyp. Sebastian (parviflorum x montanum). This has been a good performer for me and is definitely easier to grow than montanum. It makes an excellent substitute for Alberta's most beautiful wildflower.







Cyp. Ventricosum Pastel (calceolus x macranthos). Just got this last fall. Really pretty, and it produced two flowers for me! Hard to photograph unfortunately, due to its position.





Cyp. Aki Pastel (macranthos x pubescens). Love this one, this year it produced 9 shoots but only 3 flowers, same as last year. I'm hoping the push in foliar growth will lead to a larger number of flowers next year.



Cyp. Emil (parviflorum x calceolus). An excellent performer, and I love this particular example for the rusty red markings on the pouch.